Get caught in a rip tide and you're more than likely going to panic. The strong current of water pulling you out to sea can be overpowering. For a North Carolina man, the thought of two young children drowning due to a rip tide prompted him to ignore his own safety and swim out to save them.

An astonishing 600,000 people go missing in North America each year, most of whom are quickly found, but those who disappear in the wilder parts of the continent are often much harder to find. Journalist John Billman admits to being “obsessed with writing about missing persons in wild places,” and in this book he travels thousands of miles from Hawaii to Washington State to the wilds of northern Ontario pursuing intriguing stories of “cold vanishing.” The “cold” is often of the “cold case” sort and sometimes literally people disappearing into wild, cold places.

After more than a week of firefighting efforts the Moon Fish fire at Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida is just 15 percent contained, but an approaching tropical storm system could provide some help for the firefighters.

Just as campers are getting antsy about getting back out into campgrounds, so are folks who want to explore the country by RV.